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Alouettes sign 2011 draft pick Vaughn Martin, a CIS-trained Canadian via the NFL

SAN DIEGO, CA - SEPTEMBER 23: Vaughn Martin #92 of the San Diego Chargers pressures Matt Ryan #2 of the Atlanta Falcons on September 23, 2012 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. (Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

The Montreal Alouettes have often signed former NFL players, but they added a particularly interesting one Wednesday, a guy they drafted almost five years ago -- Canadian defensive tackle Vaughn Martin. Martin, who was born in Jamaica but grew up in Ontario and counts as a national under the CFL's import rules, played junior football with the Forest City Thunderbirds and shone for Team Canada at the 2006 NFL Global Junior Championship, then wound up with the Western Mustangs after academic issues kept him out of Michigan State. He had two impressive seasons at Western, and then became the first CIS underclassman drafted by the NFL when the San Diego Chargers picked him in the fourth round of the 2009 draft; he's been in the NFL since then. Interestingly enough, Martin didn't become available for the CFL draft until 2011 (thanks to the since-changed eligibility rules), and Montreal gambled a fifth-round pick on him then so they would hold his CFL rights in case he ever decided to leave the NFL. That's now paid off.

How effective will Martin make in the CFL? Well, he certainly has potential; there aren't many Canadian defensive linemen who have managed to stick in the NFL for as long as he did (Israel Idonije is one of the other few), and Martin had some good NFL seasons. He was mostly on the Chargers' active roster for all four of his seasons there (impressive, as many Canadian or CFL-trained players wind up bouncing from active to practice squad and back again), appeared in 20 total games in his first two seasons, and took a particular step forward in 2011, starting 15 games and recording 47 tackles. In 2012, though, he started only 12 games and had just 19 tackles. Things have been even rockier since then; he left for the Miami Dophins in free agency in 2013, but only appeared in three games for them and was cut in November. He signed with Detroit the next offseason, but was cut in June, then signed with Kansas City last February and was cut in August. So he hasn't made much of an NFL impact for the past few years. However, that doesn't mean he can't still play; he's just 29, he has substantial size (he's listed as 6-foot-4 and 300 pounds) and Montreal head coach and general manager Jim Popp is high on him:

“This has been a long and calculated process to finally get Vaughn to Montreal,” said Alouettes' general manager and head coach Jim Popp. Talks have gone on over the last couple of years, up to Vaughn making a visit to Montreal and taking a medical.

“Vaughn has a chance to come in and offer us a force inside, partnered with Alan-Michael Cash, that could cause teams a lot of problems.

“We obviously are excited about the possibilities and welcome him to the Alouettes.”

Adapting to the CFL game can be a challenge for linemen, especially with the one-yard neutral zone, but Martin has one edge many don't thanks to his high school, junior and university football experience in Canada. His national status also makes him much more valuable than your typical out-of-the-NFL signing; if he can be a consistent starter for Montreal, that will give them ratio flexibility elsewhere. We'll see how much he has left in the tank, but if he's still motivated and can still perform at a high level, this could be an example where the Alouettes' long-term draft planning really did pay off.